To The Heart Unhurt
by Taigalily
Summary: <html><head></head>Before sending him back to his own time, Zelda asks Link to find a Sheikah boy whom he never really knew. Link/Sheik, Slash, M/M.</html>


**A/N: So, the start of my first chapter story! Woohoo! I'm not very good at writing long stories, or chapters, but I'm learning. ^^ If you happen to spot some small grammar mistakes feel free to tell me so that I can improve. **

**Yes, this is going to be a Link/Sheik story, and yes it will be slash. Rating put to T for now, I'll see if I need to increase it later.**

**I'm only going to say this once, since we all know it's a pain in the butt: I do not own The Legend of Zelda nor any of its characters. I mean, it's called "fanfiction" for a reason, right?**

~.~.~

**Prologue**

"_Link, give the Ocarina to me. As a Sage, I can return you to your original time with it. When peace returns to Hyrule, it will be time for us to say good-bye."_

Link reached to take out the royal blue ocarina from the pouch he kept it in, but stopped himself. He looked back up to Zelda, the princess for whom he'd fought for. The last time he'd seen her she'd been a little girl. For him that had been just a few months ago, but for everyone else, seven and a half year had passed. It felt odd seeing her as a young woman when the picture he had of her in his mind still was eleven years old. He realized that she was actually taller than him now.

"...May I ask a question?" Normally, Link was a man – or really, a boy – of few words, but this one question had burned on his tongue ever since his last visit to the Temple of Time. If he did not ask her this, he'd never know.

Zelda nodded. The least she could do to thank the hero who'd rid Hyrule of evil was to grant him any answers he wished for. He was quiet for a moment, thinking of how to say it. He couldn't form the words into something that held all he wanted an answer to, so in the end he only said the most essential.

"Sheik."

Zelda's eyes grew sad at the mention of the Sheikah. She sighed.

"You wish to know whether he existed or not." she confirmed. The boy nodded briefly. _Of course._ She should have seen that this was coming. She knew that he had become quite attached to the shadow warrior during their meetings. It was understandable, really. Sheik had been the only consistent being in the chaos wreaked world that Link had been thrown into. His shock when she transformed in the temple was obvious and the air had been heavy with the betrayal he'd felt. He wasn't angry with her, she was sure of that much, but once again he's lost someone that he had come to care about.

She took a deep breath to steady herself before answering.

"It is true that I was Sheik during the time you knew him. I do apologize for deceiving you, but it was necessary for the future of Hyrule that I remained hidden. However, Sheik _was_ real." She stopped talking for a short while. This was hard to tell, it was something that made her shudder at just the mare thought of it.

"The boy called Sheik died five years ago. He was Impa's apprentice. I-" Her voice shook slightly and she subconsciously started to rub her hand together, as if she could wipe of her deed. "I possessed his body. It was the perfect disguise – I would've been killed if I hadn't, and Ganondorf would have gotten the Triforce of Wisdom and the Sages, they... But the memories... All of his memories and thoughts remained in the body. I could see his last moments in life, hear his last thoughts. They plagued me every night in countless nightmares... And the pain in Impa's eyes every time she looked at _him_..."

She snapped her head up, realizing that she'd forgotten she was not alone. Link seemed to still be processing the information, not yet sure of how to react to it, but a sense of grief had settled over his figure. Zelda took an urgent step towards him.

"I know I have no right to ask this of you..." she said, trying to regain her composure. "I've already asked too much of you. However, this is not for me. It's for _him_. Something I owe him. Please, _s__ave him._ He'll be at Kakariko Village at sundown on the summer solstice. Find him. Protect him. Please!" She received another nod from the hero.

"I promise."

"I would have gone myself if I could, but since I'm not going back with you, my younger self won't know what has happened up until now. You are the only one who will know. Though the Sages and I will make sure to imprison the evil king before he even gets into the Sacred Realm. When done, you will be free to go wherever you wish to go.

"Now, go home, Link. Regain your lost time. Home... Where you are supposed to be... the way you are supposed to be."

She took the Ocarina of Time from Link and put it to her lips. The familiar tones of the royal family's lullaby were played and before his eyes Zelda slowly faded to white. A blue light rapidly consumed the space surrounding him, and through it Link could hear Zelda's final parting words.

"_Thank you, Link. Good-bye."_


End file.
